Mortal Kombat: Kountdown
by Small Minded Cthulhu
Summary: Serving as an unofficial interim between Armageddon and the upcoming reboot, we see the events unfold through the eyes of Seb, a member of the Earthrealm Special Forces.


**CHAPTER 1 - AWAKE**

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><p>The Tanuba Desert is a harsh place at the best of times. Today was no different. Heavy winds coursed through the hills and dunes of sand it had previously made, and the sun was stuck in it's highest position. As one of the larger hills of sand shifted a few metres after a heavy gust of wind, the resulting downfall crawled into the nose of a twenty-something, white man. As the tiny, wind-crafted pieces of rock trickled from his nasal passage into the back of his throat, a vulture flew down and perched itself on the man's navy blue t-shirt. Tearing up the shirt, as well as the man's chest, the bird pecked away at the man's large hooked nose. The resulting pain, as well as the drowning sensation that was building from the amount of sand in his throat, the man sat straight up with a yell, head-butting the vulture and causing it to fly away, squawking in panic.<p>

Coughing and spluttering, the man slowly lifted himself up into a standing position, burning his hands on the blazing sand. After straightening himself up and pulling torn parts of cloth from his t-shirt, he dabbed the bleeding end of his nose, wincing when the cloth met his exposed tissue. Carefully feeling his body for broken bones, he looked around the golden plains of sand he stood in. Confident that he hadn't broken anything, he pulled out a small PDA from the back pocket of his khaki shorts and tapped the screen a few times. As the device let loose it's tune of whistles, a smooth, female voice said, "Good afternoon, Detective Theodore. How may I help you today?"

After clearing his throat, which proved difficult with the amount of leftover sand that was still there, the detective muttered, in a hoarse whisper, "Can you tell me where I am? Who I am would also be nice."

"Of course, Detective," the same smooth voice replied, "You are Seb Theodore, agent of the Earthrealm Special Forces. You are exactly six feet high. Your iris are green in colour. Also..."

"Okay, I get it. Don't bother telling me about me. I can tell what I look like. I'm having trouble figuring out who I am at the moment." Seb muttered between coughs, "Anyway, could you get around to telling me where I am?"

"Of course, sir. You are in the Tanuba Desert, the largest desert located in Outworld. Currently, the closest ESF terminal that will allow you to return to Earthrealm is about a mile to the east. Would you like me to point you in the right direction?"

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." he said with a smile, "Maybe other people will be able to help me out a little."

As he finished, a small purple arrow appeared on the screen of the PDA. Turning to face the same direction, Seb put the device back into his pocket and began walking. In an attempt to distract himself from the harsh sun, and the aches and pains he felt, he thought through what was going on, not that he really knew. He couldn't remember what he was doing out here. This wide, open, arid desert was completely unfamiliar to him, and what was he going to say to whoever he found when he got back to Earthrealm? He had the gist of most of it. He knew that the Earthrealm Special Forces was created to prevent Earthrealm from suffering at the hands of outside forces, such as Outworld, and he understood that, despite not knowing who he really was, he had significant combat prowess.

After twenty minutes of walking, a large, grey pedestal was in sight. Breaking into a smile, Seb moved his hands through his short, brown hair and started a run towards it. As he got closer, he could make out the series of multi-coloured buttons and displays on the console. When he was within touching distance of it, a loud clapping noise rang from beneath him and a large, clawed hand burst from the sand and pulled him down. Struggling to lift himself up, he clambered about with one hand and desperately searched his pockets for anything to help him out of the situation. Deciding that hitting something with a PDA wasn't the best idea, he pulled out a large, thin thing from his other back pocket, hoping it was a blade. Unfortunately, it wasn't, though it wasn't exactly useless. In his hand was a cross-headed screwdriver. Driving it into the arm of his assailant, he quickly retreated, trying not to jump in joy when the hand let go and his leg was free.

As the bleeding arm slowly lifted the rest of itself out of the sand, Seb watched in amazement as the figure of one of the hideous Tarkata eventually stood before him and tore out the blood-drenched screwdriver. As the bloody screwdriver hit the bed of sand, the Tarkatan unsheathed its arm blades and made a wild scream and charged towards him, blades at the ready. Surprised by the Tarkatan's speed, Seb had barely a second to prepare himself. Stretching out his arms, he grabbed the wrists of the charging Tarkatan, thankfully it's co-ordination was lacking and the blades missed Seb by inches, spun around and threw the vile creature a fair few feet.

Preparing himself for a full on fight, Seb got into position and waited for the Tarkatan to make it's move. As the creature made yet another charge at him, he made a quick ducking motion and launched his right fist squarely into the chin of the Tarkatan in a swift, powerful uppercut. As it's body flew upwards, Seb reached out and pulled the thing's ankle, tugging it back towards him and, as it's shocked eyes locked with his, brought his elbow down heavily on it's face. As the vile thing screamed in agony, Seb stood straight up, lifted his boot-clad foot into the air and brought it crashing down on the stunned creature's face. Spurts of blood and brain matter erupted from it's face and a disgusting crunching noise came from underneath the boot. Taking his foot off of the dead creature, Seb's face flashed a sly smirk and muttered, "Heh, flawless victory."

After wiping his foot on the sand to get the blood and other things off of his boot, Seb's made his way over to the console. After tapping in a series of buttons, the grey pedestal emitted a screeching noise and, in a flash, Seb vanished from sight.

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><p><strong>And there we have it. My first attempt at a Mortal Kombat fanfic.<br>I wonder if this will ever be read...  
>Anyway, for whoever is reading this, tell me what you thought.<br>Put it in a review.  
>Put it in a message.<br>Just give me some direction.**

**Oh, and here's a disclaimer:**

**Mortal Kombat and all it's characters are owned by Netherrealm Studios.**

**Seb Hutchinson, on the other hand, is owned by me. And don't forget it.  
><strong>


End file.
